Gwangalli pot rice with torch-seared sea bream and scallop: Solsot

Solsot Gwangalli: location, parking and opening hours

Solsot Gwangalli (솔솥 광안리점) is at 78 Gwangnam-ro, Suyeong-gu, Busan, and it is open 11:00 to 21:00 (last order 20:30). There is no dedicated parking lot, so use a nearby paid one.

Atmosphere: is it really full at an early lunch?

Even though we came for an early lunch, Solsot Gwangalli was completely full.

From tourists to Gwangalli locals, every seat was packed, and taking photos of the room felt rude, so I only snapped tables with nobody at them. The overall mood is calm, and the ganssal (slatted wood lattice) interior stood out.

There were so many foreign tourists too. Food that tastes great to us must taste great to them as well! Very much a true Gwangalli local favorite. And even in the middle of all that rush, the staff were all incredibly kind. Real pros,,,, 👍👍👍

Solsot Gwangalli menu and the prices of what we ordered

Solsot Gwangalli has a huge range of pot rice, so you can pick by taste and preference. We ordered the signature steak pot rice and sea bream scallop pot rice, plus yurinki as a side.

• Steak pot rice ₩17,900
• Sea bream scallop pot rice ₩17,900
• Yurinki ₩8,500

Kiosk ordering and self-serve nurungji

You order at Solsot Gwangalli through a kiosk 🤍 Right next to the kiosk there was something in an airtight container, and I wondered what it was...

It was nurungji (scorched rice) to add after you finish your pot rice! So thoughtful ,,, 🤍💛

I figured pot rice would take a long time, but it came out surprisingly fast. And the place was full of customers!

First impressions of the steak and sea bream scallop pot rice

You know how lifting the lid is the most exciting part of pot rice,,

The steak pot rice is topped with finely chopped green onion and an egg yolk. What a look! There is more steak than I expected. You can add extra steak, but the standard amount felt like plenty.

The sea bream scallop pot rice, with sea bream and scallops that look so tempting, is torched for a smoky flavor, which makes it look even better!

A table piled full 💛💚❤️💜 It's a generous spread that makes you feel full just looking at it.

The side dishes and sauces that come with Solsot pot rice

Solsot Gwangalli serves salad and jangguk (soy-based soup) as standard, with a soy sauce for the sea bream scallop pot rice and a steak sauce for the steak pot rice. There's also minced jeotgal (salted seafood), and that stuff is seriously good ❤️👍

Solsot steak pot rice: any gamey meat smell?

Solsot's steak pot rice had no gamey smell and wasn't heavily seasoned. Starting with the steak pot rice, I dipped a bite in the steak sauce, nom! I'm sensitive to meat smell, and there was none, and it was incredibly delicious. I liked that the steak wasn't overpowering.

Pop the yolk and mix it all up. It looks so tempting,,, I was dying to eat...

See how much meat there is! There's enough that you can put a piece on every spoonful.

I moved some to the deep plate beside it (and the bowl is so pretty.. my style..) and added some nurungji to the pot, then poured in hot water to soften it (a Korean dessert).

Why the sea bream scallop pot rice beat the steak pot rice

The sea bream scallop pot rice I picked was, by my standards, even more, more, more delicious than the steak pot rice. Highly recommend!

I love scallops, so before mixing I pulled out just the scallops and dipped them in soy sauce. Yum yum, so good.

You break the sea bream into small pieces and mix it in, and the nutty smell, I think from butter, is the best. (And no fishy smell at all, by the way.) I moved this to my small plate too! Ready to eat~~

Sea bream scallop pot rice with jeotgal and seaweed

The sea bream scallop pot rice is really good with the minced jeotgal,

and wrapped in the seaweed that comes with it, it's really, really good 😆 Was sea bream always this mild a fish..! Eaten with the nutty, mild sea bream and slightly crisped rice, it was so delicious. I can see why it's popular with foreigners.

Steak pot rice with a piece of meat and wasabi

With the steak pot rice, always put one piece of meat on each spoonful ♥️ Add wasabi on top and it's really good.

Solsot's side dish yurinki: does it go with pot rice?

I ordered the yurinki (₩8,500) at Solsot Gwangalli as a side with no expectations... but it's way better than expected..?

Pot rice tastes a little healthy, and yurinki, a fried dish with an amazing sauce, fills in the blandness of health food just a bit. I recommend pot rice plus yurinki!

Overall verdict on Solsot, a Gwangalli pot rice favorite

Pot rice suddenly became a huge trend and I've tried many pot rice places, but Solsot, loved for so long, really is in a different league.

• It doesn't skimp on toppings
• The flavors come together well overall
• There's a wide variety of pot rice
• The side dishes are high quality too

A place where people queue up even in Gwangalli really is different! Solsot Gwangalli is the Gwangalli pot rice spot I'll think of whenever I crave a warm, mild meal.